This Halloween season we
are all in for a treat when the Alien Anthology is released for the very first time on Blu-ray. Throughout
the history of Hollywood, there are only a few movie sets that have never seen an official Blu-ray release that I would love
to have in my collection: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the Alien movies. And now the time has finally
come, all four Alien movies are now in one incredible package - all with pristine video and audio.
In no way,
shape, or form does this feel or look like a cheap set – the video and audio are noticeably upgraded from previous
releases and the set is oozing with extras that will keep any fan busy for a long time. In fact, the only
negative thing I can say about this release falls down to the price tag and Alien Resurrection.
The first Alien movie was
inspirational, and is still considered to be one of the best sci-fi thrillers of all time. Director Ridley
Scott gives us a new look into a space that has never been seen until the release in 1979, Alien set the standard of a mind
thriller that has often been duplicated but hardly achieved since. Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and
the entire cast are all incredibly versed actors that don’t skimp on their performances in this movie.
The special effects are equally amazing, and although they may not compare to the galactic wars seen in Star Wars
[1977] – the creature itself is visually fun and memorable. The use of tones, music and settings
are key to the film – often setting up each and every scene from beginning to end. Such an incredible
movie, and one of my top ten favorite movies of all time.
Aliens, a movie that had a lot to live up to, actually delivered, but not
in the same was as the first. Director James Cameron takes on the directing role in the sequel to Alien,
and the two movies couldn’t be any different… but in a good way. If someone were to come
along and try to recreate the first movie, it would have probably done well in the box-office, but it wouldn’t live
up to the experience we had with Aliens. Taking a new direction, Aliens is more action driven than anything
– something Cameron is definitely an expert on [Terminator, Avatar and True Lies], but unlike many other action movies
the story doesn’t take a backseat. In fact, the story is more intriguing than the first movie –
giving us more information on the surroundings and characters involved.
Acclaimed director David Fincher [Fight Club, Se7en]
brought us Alien3 in 1992, a film that leaves a bitter taste amongst many critics and fans alike. Myself,
I enjoyed it for the most part, but I do feel it was lacking in many areas. The main disappointment to
me was the pacing; I think it tried to be too much like the first movie by giving us a slow movie with only one alien.
And unfortunately the boring set, boring script and lack of interesting characters made this movie unlikable to many
viewers. For me, it was a fun movie that could have been cut down by at least a half an hour to keep
the interest of the viewers, but I thought the character development for Sigourney Weaver’s character was brilliant.
And the ending is something you have to see.
And this brings us to Alien Resurrection. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
[Amelie] brings us this atrocious movie that should have been left on the cutting room floor. Sigourney
Weaver reprises her role as Ripley, but was able to be a little different since she’s playing her clone… yep,
her clone. Here is the plot summary for this movie: “200 years after her death, Ellen Ripley is
revived as a powerful human/Alien hybrid clone who must continue her war against the Aliens”. That
pretty much explains why this movie was a bust from the beginning, and add on cheesy/campy performances by most of the cast
and a laughable storyline on to that and you have the formula for a bad movie. The only shimmer of hope
for the movie is the fact that it won’t be the last in the series since they recently announced a prequel to the series;
so hopefully they will revive the franchise and wipe the thought of Alien Resurrection from our memories forever.
The set
also includes bonus features with over 65 hours of archival and never-before-seen content!
Go buy this set, its set
at a somewhat reasonable price of $100. Sure, it would have been even better at around $70, but since
this is the only way to get your hands on each Alien movie, this is definitely worth it.
